The Daily Zeitgeist - This Is Your Brain On Trends 1/15: ICE Shooting, Kristi Noem, EPA, FBI, Plato

Episode Date: January 15, 2026

In this edition of This Is Your Brain On Trends, Jack and special guest co-host Pallavi Gunalan discuss ICE shooting another person in Minnesota, Kristi Noem getting impeached?, the EPA caping for businesses instead of humans, the FBI raiding journalists homes, Texas A&M cancelling Plato and much more!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an I-Heart podcast. Guaranteed Human. Hey, it's Joel and Matt from How to Money. If your New Year's resolution is to finally get your finances in shape, we've got your back. Prices, they're still high. And the economy is all over the place. But 2026 is the year for you to get intentional and make real progress. That's right.

Yeah, each week we break down what's happening with your money, the most important issues to focus on. And the small moves that make a big difference. Kick off the year with confidence. Listen to How to Money on the IHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. This is Dr. Jesse Mills, host of the Mailroom podcast. Each January, men promise to get stronger, work harder, and fix what's broken. But what if the real work isn't physical at all? I sat down with psychologist Dr. Steve Poulter to unpack shame, anxiety, and the emotional pain men were never taught how to name.

Part of the way through the Valley of Despair is realizing this has happened, and you have to make a choice whether you're going to stay in it or move forward. Our two-part conversation is available now. Listen to the mailroom on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your favorite shows. I'm John Polk. For years, I was the poster boy of the conversion therapy movement, the ex-gay who married an ex-lesbian, and traveled the world telling my story of how I changed my sexuality from gay to straight. You might have heard my story, but you've never heard the real story.

John has never been anything that gay. but he really tried hard not to be. Listen to Atonement, the John Polk story on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hi, I'm Dr. Priyanko Wally. And I'm Hurricane de Bolu. It's a new year. And on the podcast's health stuff, we're resetting the way we talk about our health. Which means being honest about what we know, what we don't know, and how messy it can all be.

I like to sleep in late and sleep early. Is there a chronotype for that? I just depressed. Health stuff is about learning, laughing, and feeling a little less alone. Listen on the Iheart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. New Year, new goals, and in this economy, a better money plan is more necessary than ever. I am Matt. And I'm Joel.

We are from the how to money podcast. And every week, we help you to spend smarter, save more, and make sense of what's going on out there. If you want 2026 to be the year you finally feel in control of your money, we're here to give you the tools and advice to help you make it happen. Listen to How to Money on the IHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hi, I'm Dr. Priyanko Wally. And I'm Hurricane DeBolu.

It's a new year. And on the podcast's health stuff, we're resetting the way we talk about our health. Which means being honest about what we know, what we don't know, and how messy it can all be. I like to sleep in late and sleep early. Is there a chronotype for that or am I just depressed? We talk to experts who share real experiences and insight. You just really need to find where it is that you can have an impact in your own life and just start doing that. We break down the topics you want to know more about.

Sleep, stress, mental health, and how the world around us affects our overall health. We talk about all the ways to keep your body in mind, inside and out, healthy. We human beings, all we want is connection. We just want to connect with each other. Health stuff is about learning, last. and feeling a little less alone. Listen on the Iheart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Every January, we're encouraged to start over.

But what if this year is about slowing down and learning how to understand ourselves more deeply? What if this year is about giving ourselves permission to feel what we've been holding and knowing that it's okay to ask for help? I'm Mike Delarocha, host of Sacred Lessons. This is a podcast for men navigating stress, emotional health, fatherhood, identity, and the unspoken pressures were taught to carry alone. We talk honestly about mental health, about healing generational wounds, and about learning how to show up with more presence and care. If you want a healthier relationship with yourself and the people you love, then Sacred Lessons is the podcast for you. Listen to Sacred Lessons with Mike Dolorotcha on America's number one podcast network, IHeart.

Follow Sacred Lessons with Mike DeLaurocha and start listening on the free IHeart Radio app today. Hey there, this is Dr. Jesse Mills, director of the men's clinic at UCLA Health and host of the Mailroom podcast. Each January guys everywhere make the same resolutions. Get stronger, work harder, fix, what's broken. But what if the real work isn't physical at all? To kick off the new year, I sat down with Dr. Steve Polter, a psychologist with over 30 years' experience, helping men unpack shame, anxiety, and emotional pain they were never taught the name. In a powerful two-part conversation, we discuss why men aren't emotionally bulletproof,

why shame hides in plain sight, and how real strength comes from listening, to yourself and to others. Guys who are toxic, they're immature, or they've got something they just haven't resolved. Once that gets resolved, then there comes empathy. compassion. If you want this to be the year, you stop powering through pain and start understanding what's underneath, listen to the mailroom on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your favorite shows. Hello, the internet and welcome to this episode of This Is Your Brain.

This is Your Brain on Friends. Any questions? Guys, such a cunt about it in the ad. Like, if you go back and watch that, he's so cunct. to any questions, stupid. Yeah. Oh, you like drugs, stupid? Well, your brain is an egg.

The metaphor doesn't even make sense. Did you know the DARE program was just a way for people to give more money to cops? Oh, yeah. I bet they were on desk, dude. Via T-shirt sales. Yeah, T-shirt sales. Those things are fun now. Everybody's wearing them.

Dare T-shirts are funny. I'm thrilled to be joined in our second seat by a hilarious stand-up comedian, writer, actor, improviser. You can see her on Dropout TV. Catch her soon at Sketchfest. It's Polonium. Polavi Gunale!

And I do it again. No, keep going. I love having lore. It's because Pauli... No, literally, it's putting money in my pocket. The clues point to me at this point. I know. I'm just saying.

Like, there's a lot of evidence. I'm going to... Miles's kids daycare and just coughing on people. The conspiracy theories that people are going to put forward throughout history. I know.

No one will know the truth. Paul of you, thrilled to have you here. Does feel like our brain is on trends. It does feel like being on very bad drugs these days based on what is happening in the world and we'll get right into that.

Yeah, we're on a bad trip. We're on a bad trip these days. We're reaching bad trip, Bad acid trip levels of news. Ice shot another person in Minnesota. This time it was a Venezuelan man who allegedly violently assaulted them. They shot him in the leg, which kicked off another demonstration at the scene. Ice responded with a barrage of tear gas and less lethal munitions.

Wait, didn't. It was just a little bit less. Is this the one where they shot the kid in the eye? No, not even that one. Oh, my. This is a different where they shot them with bullets. Okay. But Trump really seems to be horny for the Insurrection Act.

He issued a truth, his broke-ass tweet, saying, if the corrupt politicians of Minnesota don't obey the law and stop the professional agitators and insurrectionists. Yeah, it seems like a real, a real crackerjack crew of agitators and insurrectionists. It's just everybody's fucking furious and getting killed. and getting the shit beaten out of them for just being like stop kidnapping and shooting people.

But anyway, can't stop attacking the Patriot of ICE who are only trying to do their job. I will institute the Insurrection Act, all caps, which many presidents have done before me. This man is such a troll, dude.

He's trolling, he constantly trolls people, but like through violence. It's crazy. I think he's like psychopath at this point. Like, I don't know. It's like... But I mean, like, it is a psychopath,

like murderous, whatever, but like calling it the insurrection act after everything. You know what I mean? Like, I mean, he's wanted to do that. He wanted to do it in 2020. After the murder of George Floyd,

he wanted to put U.S. troops in American cities to put down uprisings. There were tanks near my house. That was crazy. Yeah. I don't remember. What more, what would that, what different would that have looked like?

I guess just people being straight up shot? Yeah, I think he just wanted to shoot people and he didn't get to then. But he most recently threatened to use the Interaction Act in Chicago, arguing that 50% of the presidents have used that. In reality, it's about 37% of the presidents have used it. It hasn't been used in 30 years since the L.A. riots, but he wants to do it. And I think he's going to do it.

Good luck in fucking Chicago. Good luck trying to do that to Chicagoans. Do you know how much those people love their fucking city? My boyfriend has multiple tattoos of it on his body. You're not going to fuck with Chicago. It's crazy. One of the highest tattoo average for people from Chicago. They do love it.

They love it. They're going to defend their city. So fuck off. But that's kind of what he wants. He wants a violent clash. He wants the most chaos and violence possible so that he can call off the elections, I think, is what we're looking at. Yeah, that's true. Christy Noem, this is potentially good news. I don't know.

Chrissy Noem is potentially being impeached, getting some much needed negative attention. Obviously, too late. But this time it's the Democrats of the Homeland Security Committee who are saying we're announcing we will begin a process of accountability for Secretary Nome. That's Representative Benny Thompson. What does that mean? Because Trump has been impeached. Right. So what does that practically?

what does that mean? There's still like, you know, there's a prison riot happening and they're like still handing up pink slips, it feels like, you know what I mean? They're still being like, you're in the hallway when you're not supposed to be. So you're actually going to get a demerit for this. Shout out to the Black Panther Party who's showing up to protect protesters. I love you guys. Yeah, absolutely.

But yeah, I mean, it obviously feels inadequate given the stakes. And the Republicans will not support this. And it's not clear even how many Democrats are willing to be counted and supporting the effort. But I guess we can say that it is, and this is official, not nothing. Oh, my God. Thank you, Chuck Schumer. Most we can ask for from these guys. Cory Booker's about to filibuster again.

Watch out. Filibuster. That was so brave. What a moment. Yeah. I feel like we need to put that on the list of like many things from Kamala Harris's campaign, the imagine video, just like moments of the old establishment democratic people doing their best. They should have just been in musical theater.

Like honestly, they want the attention. They want to perform. Just go to Broadway, dude. Nancy Pelosi kneeling with the Kufion. A lot of great moments. There's no way that hasn't been in a black. box theaters somewhere off Broadway. There's no way.

The dramatic recreation of that moment. All right. You may have seen that the value of a human life is now being lowered to zero dollars by the EPA. So this is a weird story that requires some background understanding. But first of all, just overall, this is going to surprise a lot of our listeners, but apparently putting a bunch of X oil. lobbyists in charge of the EPA was a bad thing. The New York Times recently reported that the EPA has decided to revise its rules instead of calculating the health benefits of reducing air pollution

to determine clean air regulations. They'll simply focus on the costs to businesses, which is being reported as a seismic shift that runs counter to the EPA's mission statement, which says the agency's core responsibility is to protect human health and the environment. And now it is being calculated in dollars, like costs only two businesses. Okay, we need to raise money to make everyone an LLC at this point to protect our individual human rights. Yeah. Everyone needs to register as an LLC and then we'll get tax rates.

That's right. We'll get protection. That really might be what it takes. So this is very good news for the owners of coal burning power plants, oil refineries, steel mills, and other industrial facilities across the country. they were celebrating. Bad news for anyone who has to breathe. Oh, my God.

It exposed something to me that was already happening that was really fucked up. Like, the thing that is going away or that the value that has been lowered to zero is that the EPA actually already since the Reagan administration, it's weird that they came up with a fucked up thing, assigns a monetary value of a human life

in their cost-benefit analysis. This is why I can never study economics in college. That's like all it's about is like the value of humanity. And like the like cynically predicting people's worth through their lifetime and how many times. So like go to the emergency room or go to prison or whatever. It's like it's the least hopeful subject. I'm sorry to all economists out there. I just couldn't.

My heart couldn't handle it. Economics is going to be studied in the future as like, holy shit. Like look how fucked up. Yeah. it's going to be like, what's the thing where they study like people's brain, phrenology or whatever? Like, what is it called? Yeah.

Phrenology. Yeah. I mean like that. But it's like so revealing. This is one of the very first things that radicalized me against capitalism is as currently practiced in the U.S. is this book, the corporation that I read in high school that talks about how corporations evaluate everything in terms of monetary value and risk. And so they would decide it was looking at like carcats.

companies in the 70s and 80s, and they would decide whether to recall a car based not on whether that car would kill someone, which they, like, they would find a defect, be like, okay, this is going to kill the Boeing strategy. Right. But they would instead look at, run a cost-benefit analysis on what the resulting lawsuits of those deaths that they knew their product was going to call, would presumably cost the company. Well, if you look at it, it this way. To corporations, money is like oxygen. So they needed to survive. Thank you. And this is like Transformers type shit, you know? Yeah. The other thing that book talked about was that corporations are legally viewed as humans with rights. And therefore, if you look at the, if you view

a single corporation as a human actor, you'd be like, that person would be in jail forever. Like, they're a complete psychopath. They knowingly, like, killed people. But, They also have... They did it as a group in suits, so it's fine. This is, like, worse than, like, if you read, like, Isaac Asimov's books about, like, robots and shit, one of the rules is, like, you can't harm humans. Right. And, like, this is a colder predictor of the future than anything. It's crazy.

Yeah, the singularity, the thing that, like, sci-fi authors have been talking about with, like, AI is going to come and take over the singularity has been. year it is corporate. And we need to join because that's the only way for us to protect ourselves. If we become a part of them, then they'll be like, wow, you deserve oxygen actually. Incorporate yourself, guys. Come on, Carol, incorporate yourself. We love you. But with climate change, like, it can't, so the, it's basically the same calculation, right?

It can't actually hurt them because there's no legislation in place to find governments accountable for like all the people that they kill or like there if there is it's like way down the down the road and it's not gonna like cause them any discomfort they'll be dead the dick cheney method yeah and i'm not saying that should be the way it is but that's just been the way it is so ultimately it's gonna net out to zero and that's where we are now where they've been like so they used to value a the value of a human life at uh 9.1 million dollars that was last year that is that how they pay out like lawsuits and shit? Is that the same? Oh my God. No, I don't think it's based on lawsuits. I think it's based on literally what they do is they take the GDP of the country. It's so fucked

up. And then they divide it by like the working population. But that would mean that life itself is worth a little less than what Cameron Diaz got paid for two days of sitting in a sound booth for Shrek too. That's courtesy

courtesy of J.M.R. Also, that's like less than some white people pay for pet care. You know what I mean? It's my pet care budget, okay? Yeah. You better up that number. And then in a Biden error report, the EPA suggested that a life lost in a lower income country due to climate change is worth less than life lost in a higher income

country because the EPA, as I was saying, chose to weigh the mortality cost of climate change in proportion to the per capita income of the country where someone died. And so Canada's GDP per capita is more than 16 times that of Haiti. And so a Canadian life is worth 16 times that of a Haitian life. I don't understand how we're like the same species as these people. Like I just, I'm like, these people are like the scum of the earth. It's crazy. Yeah.

Because that's, we already, we already know that they're valued like that to you because you're letting climate change happen. And it's affecting the global south and like poor people in cities, things flood. Like, we already know. Negligible cost differential. And you're like, no, let's put it down in a book. Yeah.

It's crazy. So by their calculations, actually, so I was like, oh, of course America is going to be number one. Qatar. A Qatari life is worth 118 Burundian lives worth more than an American life. A German life is worth 12 Cambodian lives. Australian life is worth four Indonesian lives. You might notice a trend here of like what the people.

people in these countries look like that have lives that are more valuable, although a Russian life worth two Ukrainian lives. Wow. You might be surprised to learn that we can lay the blame for a lot of this on if you had to guess a historical figure. Oh, I'm going to look down and say the man who got the best blow jobs of his life. Ronald Reagan, the recipient of the throat goat. The throat goats chosen one.

Yes. The EPA's dollar assigned approach to saving the planet originated in a 1981 Reagan executive order, which required agencies like the EPA to consider the costs and benefits of major regulations such as the Clean Air Act. So that he'd be like, okay, yeah. So, you know, let's say a million people die. But how much is that going to cost Exxon? That's so, like, nuts to me because, like, okay, say, I know that like different neighborhoods based on like poverty rates and stuff get different amounts of like trees for like oxygen and shade and climate control or whatever.

But like it's crazy to me like when it comes to air, do they have like nets that we can't see around their like hedge enclosed households? Like they like they're exposed to it too. But they can afford the best medical care, I guess is the way is their gamble. That's fucking crazy. That's so crazy to me. There is a trend. very rich, old people of like trying to live

forever by just like measuring their son's erections. Yes. Yeah, exactly. But it's funny because... That's a reference to something. I'm not just being weird. No, that, yeah, Brian Johnson.

You also, as Superdiser Victor point out, you got to have a blood boy. Oh, yeah. You got to get a blood boy. I'm trying to find an open micer to do it for me. Yeah. So this has become the norm, but at the time when Reagan proposed it,

it was a intensely heated debate with a lot of philosophers being like Reagan's new policy, quote, will discount the great value we place on saving life and we will be doing less and less of it. What the fuck? What the fuck was that person talking about? What were they thinking?

Anyways, so they were putting a monetary value on human lives, which is it like you see how they're like, well, we have to operate inside a capitalist system. So what we do is we just create a dollar, a monetary value. That's the only thing they'll understand. And then, of course, eventually they're just going to be like, yeah, we actually, don't give a fuck.

You can't tell us that something's worth money. We're just not going to believe you. And now it's down to zero. Now it's just about the costs to businesses. This is why money isn't real. community is and you got to organize and and protect each other. Seems like a bad system. I'm just going to say it. Okay. I was trying to like be positive at the end, Jack, because there was just so much shit

down this fucking path. All right. Let's go with that instead. We're going to take a quick break. We'll be right back. New year, new goals. And in this economy, a better money plan is more necessary than ever. I am Matt. And I'm Joel. We are from the how to money podcast, and every week we help you to spend smarter, save more, and make sense of what's going on out there. If you want 2026 to be the year you finally feel in control of your money, we're here to give you the tools and advice to help you make it happen. Listen to how to money on the IHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hi, I'm Dr. Priyanko Wali. And I'm Hurricane de Bolu.

It's a new year. And on the podcast's health stuff, we're resetting the way we talk about our health. Which means being honest about what we know, what we don't know. and how messy it can all be. I like to sleep in late and sleep early. Is there a chronotype for that, or am I just depressed? We talk to experts who share real experiences and insight. You just really need to find where it is that you can have an impact in your own life

and to start doing that. We break down the topics you want to know more about. Sleep, stress, mental health, and how the world around us affects our overall health. We talk about all the way. ways to keep your body and mind, inside and out, healthy. We human beings, all we want is connection. We just want to connect with each other. Health stuff is about learning, laughing, and feeling a little less alone.

Listen on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Every January, we're encouraged to start over. But what if this year is about slowing down and learning how to understand ourselves more deeply? what if this year is about giving ourselves permission to feel what we've been holding and knowing that it's okay to ask for help? I'm Mike Delarocha, host of Sacred Lessons. This is a podcast for men navigating stress, emotional health, fatherhood, identity, and the unspoken pressures were taught to carry alone.

We talk honestly about mental health, about healing generational wounds, and about learning how to show up with more presence and care. If you want a healthier relationship with yourself and the people you love, then Sacred Lessons is the podcast for you. Listen to Sacred Lessons with Mike Dolorotcha on America's number one podcast network, IHeart. Follow Sacred Lessons with Mike DeLaurocha and start listening on the free IHeart Radio app today. Hey there, this is Dr. Jesse Mills, director of the men's clinic at UCLA Health

and host of the Mailroom podcast. Each January, guys everywhere make the same resolutions. Get stronger, work harder, fix, what's broken. But what if the real work isn't physical at all? To kick off the new year, I sat down with Dr. Steve Polter, a psychologist with over 30 years' experience, helping men unpack shame, anxiety, and emotional pain they were never taught to name.

In a powerful two-part conversation, we discuss why men aren't emotionally bulletproof, why shame hides in plain sight, and how real strength comes from listening, to yourself and to others. Guys who are toxic, they're immature, or they've got something they just haven't resolved. Once that gets resolved,

then there comes empathy as in compassion. If you want this to be the year, you stop powering through pain and start understanding what's underneath, listen to the mailroom on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your favorite shows. And we're back. And we are at the FBI rating journalist's home stage

of this crumbling of American democracy. Run Ken Clippenstein. Run! I know. You better not have a fixed address. I'm just saying. So the Washington Post has really been on a throat goat run with the Trump administration.

They just stuck their neck out to sycophantically defend his ballroom. In defense of the White House ballroom from the editorial board. No one's thinking about the fucking ballroom right now. He is. So they're doing the Fox News thing of like just, this is for an audience of one. Quick protesters. Erect a ballroom wherever you need to protect yourself.

Yeah. But they said strong leaders reject calcification. And we're really, they're also being investigated for deals struck with Trump over other issues. Like there's something going on with Amazon and Amazon having to pay. pay $2.5 billion in penalties and refunds to fix its subscription process because they were basically doing the thing where they auto subscribe you or whatever. They auto subscribe and make it hard to cancel. Okay, Rihanna.

Okay. Okay, Fenty, Savage. Are they doing that? I think they got in trouble at one point for that. Don't come at me. I love her music. But even the Washington Post isn't immune from being targeted by the Trump administration's war on journalists who don't have spray tans and tie-in deals with nutraceutical boner pills.

That's the full name of it. So I'm covered. The war on journalists who don't have spray tans and tie-in deals with nutraceutical boner pills. But the FBI just rated the home of Washington Post reporter Hannah Natanson over her investigation into a Pentagon contractor accused of illegally retaining classified government material. This is so fucking crazy. I think the craziest part is like now we're learning all the moves in public.

I feel like a good portion of America already knew that this shit was happening behind the scenes but like it's like the thing where they're like we're invading Venezuela for the oil. It's like that but with... Yeah, they didn't mask off. Yeah, except mask off spray tan on. Yeah.

According to Marty Barron, it's a clear and appalling sign that this administration will set no limits on its act of aggression against an independent press. And Marty Barron, the Post's former executive editor told The Guardian. I was about to be like, damn, spicy rejoinder

from the Washington Post, but it's, of course, the former editor speaking to a UK paper because the American media is not built for it, as we saw with Israel, and now we're seeing with this administration. When you read the BBC, do you read it in a British accent?

Yeah, and I have a terrible British accent. Read on about it. I'm pretty sure that's Australian. And finally, a Texas university is canceling Plato, not the toy, the philosopher. Texas A&M has taken a firm stance against Plato. They recently banned a philosophy professor from teaching a section of Plato's symposium.

It includes a reference to a gender that was a union of man and woman. That is show. That's what you're canceling. I'm pretty sure, like, some of them were pedophiles, but you're canceling him. Yeah, there's parts in there where it's like... Okay. Men should have boys that they, you know, abuse ritualistically. That's how you teach them.

He also lived so long ago that he speculated that humans were featherless birds. That was one of his takes. He was like, I'm pretty sure we're birds, you guys. Roast us, Plato, Jesus. Because they're both bipedal. And so he was just like, I'm pretty sure this is us, you guys. I mean, Alex Jones is doing the same thing right now, so probably. Right.

That's right. He's somewhere being like, we're fucking birds. That's why I love toads. He's on the lizard train. Oh, that's true. Well, lizards aren't lizards related to birds somehow? I mean, dinosaurs are related to birds. That's the big dinosaur debate.

In actual scientific realms, the debate is are where dinosaurs related to modern day lizards or modern day birds and in the dipshit world. Are humans related to birds or are we lizards? I think they're doing this because they want us to feel like we're by the transit of property related to dinosaurs so that it can take us to a park and breed us and then release us. Do not stop. You're cooking right now. But yeah, this guy who thought humans were featherless birds, that was his grasp of science, has takes on gender that are too progressive for. 19-year-olds. He lived so long ago, but the university's new rules limiting how instructors may

discuss matters like gender identity and race ideology and classrooms is affecting this. And this came after Texas A&M fired an English lecture for acknowledging differences between gender identity and expression in a summer semester course on children's literature. The bag of a student told the professor that the lecture, I'm pretty sure this lecture isn't legal, y'all. Um, because of Trump's executive order withdrawing federal recognition of transgender identity and filmed the encounter, which makes that that's like the equivalent of like a legal brief, a legal statute is like you film it and you're a mega influencer. I need everyone to go to Kaysanat's dream right now and just start reading. I just need you

to start reading, start pronouncing words out loud, educate yourselves because this country isn't going to do it for you. Yeah. And educate yourselves not on the internet. I like the idea of like things printed in books from before the last 10 years. I do think that people are actually rebelling by reading right now. Like, oh, fuck, I wish I knew who said this joke, but somebody said every, I think it was like on a TikTok or something and I feel bad saying it. But they were saying like every woman they know is like reading as as much as they can and every man they know is like, has lost like $5,000 to draft kings. But I really feel it was like a male comedian. We'll link it if I, if I remember. But it was so funny to me because I'm like, I really do feel like we are all like every woman I know is reading. It doesn't matter what we're reading. We're just like trying to bury our nose and books in order to like educate ourselves and to hold on to some grasp of like of knowledge that we have and truth in in words, you know. Yeah. And to read a made up world where you know, you can have sex with a.

dragon, don't worry about it. Jesus Christ. Exactly. Okay, so donkey can do it, but I can't. This world is not good right now, and men are... We're looking to mythological creatures to find the clit. That's what we're doing. What if there's a mythological creature?

Men are already demons, so why can't actual demons, fuck? Right. I did like this move by the philosophy professor who, after he was told that he had to remove Plato from his syllabus, he replaced the Plato text with an article from the New York Times about the university censorship of the original material. So he was like, all right, instead of reading that, we're going to read about this censoring that. That is amazing. Which is, you know, not just to fuck you, but also a very good way to teach people about philosophy and how it actually works and impacts daily lives in this version of reality, which is bad.

crazy. Like, have you gone to a bookstore lately and they'll have like a banned book section? Yeah. Like that wasn't a thing when we were growing up. Yeah. Yeah. Like, I mean, and literally like Fahrenheit 451, 1984, like a bunch of different books are on there from like my childhood that were significant parts of my English. I'm like, what are they teaching in substitution in these like towns or whatever where people where parents are protesting? Like what are they? Is it like a cash Patel's AI generated children's book or something? What are they teaching them? Instant classic Cash Patel's AI generated children's book. The children yearn for books. Polavie Ghanalyn, such a pleasure having you, as always, on the Daily Zekeist. Where can people find you, follow you all that good stuff? I'm at Paula Viann Allan, P-A-L-A-V-I-G-U-N-A-L-N everywhere, except for Blue Sky,

where I got Pull-O-Vie. And I am going to be at Sketch Fest this weekend. Hell yeah. Zin the Baddies, which is a South Asian improv group, and it's so fun. It's going to be great. That's at 2 p.m. at the Lost Church. And then facial recognition comedy in the evening, I think like 7.30, I don't know, check the time. But it's going to be at the Bats Theater.

So please come through and tell your friends. Please buy a ticket, grab some friends. We'll probably hang out after somewhere. I don't know. But it's going to be a great time. Come through. All right. And then next week.

Next week in LA, we have facial recognition comedy Friday at 10 p.m. At the Comedy Store. Everybody go check those out. We're back tomorrow with a whole last episode of the show. Until then, be kind to each other. Be kind to yourselves. Get your vaccines where you still can. If you still can.

Don't do nothing about white supremacy. And we will talk to you all tomorrow. Bye. Bye. The Daily Zykeyes is executive produced by Catherine Law. Co-produced by Bay Wang. Co-produced by Victor Wright. Co-written by Hibor-Wed.

J.M. McNabb, and edited and engineered by Brian Jeffries. Hey, it's Joel and Matt from How to Money. If your New Year's resolution is to finally get your finances in shape, we've got your back. Prices that are still high and the economy is all over the place. But 2026 is the year for you to get intentional and make real progress. That's right. Yeah, each week we break down what's happening with your money, the most important issues to focus on, and the small moods. that make a big difference. Kick off the year with confidence. Listen to how to money on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

This is Dr. Jesse Mills, host of the Mailroom podcast. Each January, men promise to get stronger, work harder, and fix what's broken. But what if the real work isn't physical at all? I sat down with psychologist Dr. Steve Polter to unpack shame, anxiety, and the emotional pain men were never taught how to name. Part of the way through the Valley of Despair is realizing this has happened, And you have to take a choice whether you're going to stay in it or move forward. Our two-part conversation is available now.

Listen to the mailroom on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your favorite shows. I'm John Polk. For years, I was the poster boy of the conversion therapy movement, the ex-gay who married an ex-lesbian, and traveled the world telling my story of how I changed my sexuality from gay to straight. You might have heard my story, but you've never heard the real story. story. John has never been anything that gay, but he really tried hard not to be.

Listen to Atonement, the John Polk story on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hi, I'm Dr. Priyanko Wally. And I'm Hurricane de Bolo. It's a new year, and on the podcast's health stuff, we're resetting the way we talk about our health.

Which means being honest about what we know, what we don't know, and how messy it can all be. I like to sleep in late and sleep early. Is there a chronotype for that or am I just depressed? Health stuff is about learning, laughing, and feeling a little less alone. Listen on the IHeart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. This is an IHeart podcast. Guaranteed human.